Report: Trump Will Release Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick Early

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick will be released from prison early, according to a state representative in contact with Fox News.

“State representative Karen Whitsett says President Trump told her Thursday that Kwame Kilpatrick would be one of 3000 prisoners released because of #coronavirus,” Fox 2’s Charlie Langton tweeted Saturday afternoon. Kilpatrick was convicted in 2013, currently serving a 28-year sentence on 24 corruption charges.

Prosecutors said Kilpatrick ran a “private profit machine” from his office, manipulating public funds and contracting to enrich himself, his family, and friends. Kilpatrick was elected to office in 2001, then resigned in 2008 for a completely separate scandal, pleading guilty to obstruction of justice in an investigation regarding sexually explicit text messages and an extramarital affair with his chief of staff.

Rep. Whitsett said that while President Trump told her Kilpatrick would be one of 3,000 Michigan prisoners to be released because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, he would remain under house arrest. Whitsett is primarily known for her break from the Democratic party to push for national unity during the crisis. She has been censured by the 13th Congressional District Democratic Party Organization — meaning they will not support her upcoming reelection campaign.

When asked for comment during his Friday coronavirus briefing, current Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said people who know him know his connection to Kilpatrick is “very personal.”

“Known him since he was in high school. When he was teaching at Marcus Garvey and going to law school at night at DCL, he’d study in his father’s office which was next to mine and his twins would play on the floor in my office,” Duggan said, stressing that Kilpatrick was one of the most talented people he knows. “He has a lot to contribute and if, in fact, the reports [of his early release] are true, I’ll be doing anything I can to help him get a fresh start,” the mayor said.